Process of manufacturing gas.



B. BRAZBLLB. PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING GAS.

APPLICATION TILBD AUG. 3,1908.

l Patented July 13,1909.

, i SHEETS-SUBSTI- Pu in@ n VX mm mw w Il o ab $19 .f

B'. BRAZBLLE. PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING GAS. APPLIoumN FILED Aua.s,19o.

Patented July 13,1909.

Witnesses.' (fra/L (Zyl/wrm:

lo utilize clica are charged.

j UN'lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE; i

esamina aaAznLLia, or iiiinrwooi), iiissoiiii, Assioma or exit-HALF 'ro iii-ism' ciascuna, oi# Leiris, Missoula.

PROCESS Qi? MANUFACTURING GAS.

Appiicaoan and August a, mea. serai Nit-146,837.

s and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Process of Manufacturing Gas, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention ielates t-o the manufacture of gas and has for its principal objects to material such as limestone and to render t ie process rapid, economical and substantially continuons. v

lt consists princi )ally in passing the gases from hot or burning caioonaceous matter i5 through a mass of mineral carbonatos for the pu )ose 'of evolving carbonio acid therefrom an( thence assing such gases through a hot mass of car )onaceous material.

It also consists in various modifications and 20 supplementary steps hereinafter more fully described and claimed.'

ln the accompanying drawin Y, which forms pait of this specification, an( wherein like symbols refer to like )arts wherever o they occur, Figure 1 is a longitudinalvertical section of an apparatus adapted to carry out my process; and, Fig. 2 is a plan view of said apparatus partly in section.

aid apparatus com )rises a. steel shell or x'O generator 1 lined witi iiiebiick 2 and divided by vertical walls 3, 4, into three main compartments 5, 6, 7. The shell has an o ening in its top above cach compartment t irough which the respective compartments Each of these openings is closed with a suitable couuteiwveighted hopper bell 8. A hanging wall J extends .downwai'dly from a boint adjacent to the charging opening of the first and last oi thc compart- 40 ments and divides the upper portion of the' compartment into a magazine 10 for the fuel and a chamber constituting a mit of the flue system. The side wailso each coinpartmcnt taper or incline inwardly toward the bottom to give support to the weight of the charge. At a suitable distance below the hearth opening of each compartment is a grate 11 which is mounted on a rocking shaft 12, which projects through the casing and is yioviderlwith a hand lever 13 for turning it.

n the side wall are openings which commu-nii cate with the chambers below the respective rates. These openings are norm-ally closed y doors 14 and are used for removinv' 'the ashes or other p'jflucte that are dumpedinto Specification of Letztem Put-ent.

Patented July 13, 1909.

the respective pits by the periodical tuming of the gratos.

The wall 3 which divides the first main compartment 5 from the second 6 extends from the bottom nearly but not quite to the top of the casin and the wall 4 which separates the secon compartment from the third 7 has a large opening 4 located above the gratos of said compartment so as to make direct communication between their pits.

-Opening into th'c pit of the first compartment is an air pipe l5 which communicates with an air blower'of suitable type and is controlled by a valve 16. the pit or lower portion of the iirst compartment is a pipe 17 which communicates with a boiler or steam generator and is controlled by a suitable -vali/e 18. Near the top of the first and third compartments are pipes 19 which communicate with an air blower and are controlled by valves 20. Also at the to of this third compartment is a pi c 21 whie communicates, b 23, with an oil geding device -and with a steam generator, respectiyely.

The' upper portion of the third -compartvalved: brano i pipes 22,

Also opening into nientcommunicates through a ilue,24 with a fixing chamber Bti-consisting of a steel shell i 2G lined with iirebrick 27 This fixing chamber is divided by a vertical partition28 into two compartments 29, 30, which. communicate with each other through an opening 31 in the bottom of the partition or division wall. Each of these compartments is filled with iircbrick 32 set edgewise and far enough apart to forni tortuous passages there? through and constituting a so-cal'led" checkerwork. 'At the top of the second compartment of the iixing chaaiiber are two pipes 33,' 3,4, which communicate, res ctively, with gas holders and are control ed by suitable valves 35, 3o.

lii the top of said second com- I pertinent of the lixing chamber is a. draft opening 37 which is normally closed by a.;

suitable door or covering 38.

In the operation of my invention, the first i and third coinvpartnientsof the 'enerator are charged with coal or other suta le cnrbonal ccous material and the secondrcoinfpartmcnt is charved with limestone. or other` suitableY mineral carbonate. Initially, 'all Aof the val'v'es and doors are closed` with the excention of the valve 16 ,which controls the air pipe 15 leading into the pit of the -iirst compartment o.' the generator and the door 38 at, 11j@ the top of the second com artrnent of the fixing chamber. Under t ese conditions, the coal in the. first compartment of the. gencrater is ignited and the hot products of combustion therefrom circulate through the limestone in the second vompurfment and the carbonaeeous material in thc third compartment of the generator, thence through the two compartments of the fixing chamber and outl into the atmosphere through the draft opening in the. top ol' the second compartment.. 'lhis operation continues until the limestone in theseeondand coul in the third compartment and the iirebriek in thc fixing elurmber have become tlau'mighly hot. If it is desired to hasten the heut-ing,` of the fxrebricli in the lixing r'hzm'lber, the combustible gases generated in the third chamber are ignited and burned by the. admission ol an air blast into the upper port of the third chamber through the pipe lll. When all parts of the system have been thoroughly lente-d, the apparatus may be used for the manufacture of fuel gas t-.ontainrg a considerable percentage, of nitrogen or for the manufacture of illuminating gas containing an i'neonsiderable portion oi' nitrogen.

My invention contemplates` the. nminuffcture of both l'uel gas and illnminrting gas, alternately. lin order to nmnufaeturc fuel gas, thc` door 3S of the draft llue of the lixing chamber is closed and the valve ol the pipeY 33 lending to the fuel gas holder is opened. Under these t'il'rzlllslnlu'es, tlu vnrblm iloxid resulting from the combustion ol' the fuel in the 'first eompartrm-nt together with the carbon dioxid evolved from the limestone in the second compartment oi' tire generator passesupwardly through the hot mass ol' coal in the third compertinent, wherein the. carbon dioxid is converted into carbon monoxid which passes oll' through the tiring chamber into gas bolder. As a modiiieation of this profess. the valve '11S' controlling the steam pipe 17 leading into the lower portion ol' the lirst compartment. may be opened to inject steam into said compari ment, in which ease, ocr-ur the reactions wel! hnown in the nmnul'acture ol' water gas. So long as there is eolnlmstion in the first eoxnparl ment, thc resulting gas contains a eonsiderable proportion of nitrogen whieh enters :is thc main constituent o. the air; and, eonsefpxeutly, thc resulting gas, whether the steam blast is used or not, is properly classilied as a fuel gas.

During the manufacture ol' fuel gas, all parts of the system are being heated. When all parts of the system are thoroughly hot., thc air blast eut oli' from the pit of the first compartment. ami the valves are. ud-

flxing Chamber tn the fuel "als holder und open connnunieation to the i.lun|iuating gas z helder. lnder there eomlitions, the gases developed in the first eompartnu-nt as nell as those .-nerated in the third compartment are dist-i lation products. The mixture of the gasesin the. upper portion of this third eomllnu'tnu-nt of the. generator contains unstab e ingredients which become fixed or converted into more stable gases in assmg through the lixing chamber at a hig tcmperature. The gas delivered into the. illumina-ting gas -holder is suhstantially free from nitrogen and contains a lower percentage. of carbon monoxid and u. larger percentage of hydrocarbon than fuel gas resulting from the previous operations. `Whcn it is desired to enrich this illuminating gas, the valves which control the steam pi e 23 and the oil pipe leading into the tliird compartment are. opened, whereby the steam sprays the. hydrocarbon oil into the third compartment. '.lhe gases resulting from this operation are likewise. lixed in passing through the fixing chamber. As a modifies.- tion of this Step, it is sometimes desirable t0 inject steam into the muss of hot coal in the first compartment, whereby the. volume of the resulting gas zonsiderably increased.

During thc manufacture of illuminating gas, the temperat-ure. in dili'erent arts of the system becomes lower, and as the fixing of the gases requires a high temperature., it is nee. ary to reheat the lixing chamber peri odieally as well as to maintain a high temperature in the three compartments of the generator.

When it is re `mired to raise the. temperature ol' theY lin'usrone7 air may be forcer into the upper portion of the tirs-t com )artment of the generator for the. puriosc ol igniting the gases that distill from the coal therein. lnv fact, it may sometimes be desirable to burn tar in the u per portion of the first compm'tment for tlie purpose ol` heating the lime roch. By thus converting the upper portion of the lirstcompartment into a combustion chamber, it becomes practicable to use coal that has a large )ro ortion of tarry matter and which wouh otlherwise. require special treatment. ol' the. gas for the purposxr of rem-:wing the, tarry constituents therelrom.

Alter the manufacture of illuminating gas has continued for a time, it becomes necessary to relu-at the system. This is accomplished either by restoring the system te the original condition in which the products of combustion pass ofi' into the. atmosphere, 0r by directly changing the parts to the conditions required for the manufacture of fuel gas. B v thus varying the conditions so as to 3 mamxlax-ture illuminating gas and fuel gas alt e mately, the process becomes continuously justed to cul. Aoli' e:unnmnieation from the produrwe of ono kind of gas or the. other.

f The heat incidental to the manufacture of fuel gas is utilized 1n the manufacture of y illuminai in;r gas, and the lime. resulting from the demmiposition ol' the limestone is a. vulleov unf

uaole byproduct, especially as such lime is entirely frce` .from ash. The lime thus l former is pori'mlically dumped, by the rocking of the grate of the second compartment, i into the pit where it is readily accessi hiv` for removah In like manner, thc ashes or waste of the carbonaceo'us material is dumped into' i the pits of the first and third compartments l .ratcly collecting thc illuminating gas t .desired to maintain the refractoryY material whence it may be readily removed. As all l of the vcompartments of thc generator arc accessible for charging at. the top and foi-l removal at the bottom, the process may he i ke t in operation indefinitely. l n some cases it isdesirahle to use more limestone in pro )ortio'ii to th(` coal. in such a case coal and limestone mmy be mixed toether and charged into the iirstchamlmi' 5. i he resulting limestone byproduct from this chamber is of considerable value and is .known as commercial lime as distinguished from the chemically pure linie from the second chamber 6.

When fuel gas is being made and it is in the lixin chamber at a high temperature continuous y, air may be admitted int-o the u per part of the third com iartmcnt or cfiamber of the generator in su icient quantity to burn a minor part of the gases before the enter said fixing chamber.

l "hat I claim is:

l. The process of manufacturing both fuel gas and ilumiiiating gas which consists in alternately admitting and cutting off a su lply of air to a bed of hot coal, passing the products of combustion of such through a separate mass of mineral carbonatos and thencevthrough a second mass of coal, and thence through a mass of refractory material, and collecting the fuel as thus produced, and in passing the gas, w ich distils from the hot coal while the air supply is cut oil', through said mass of mineral carbonatos and the sccondunass of coal, and then injecting volatile hydrocarbon into it and separately collecting the illuminating gas thus produced.

2. The roccss of manufacturing both fuel gas and illuminating gas which consists in alternately admitting and cutting off a supply of air to a bed of hot coal, passing thc products of combustion of such coal through l a mass of mineral carbonatos and thence through a second mass of coal, and thence through a mass of refractory material and collecting the fuel gas thus produced, and in passing the gas, w iich distils fi'oiii the hot coal while the air supply is cut ofi', through i said mass of mineral carbonatos. and the second mass of coal, and then injecting volatile i hydrocarbon and steam into it and sepa-l ius k roduced.

'lhc

process yof manufacturing gasi which consists in burning carbonaceus material in the presence of steam, passing the hot products of reaction through a separate mass of mineral rlzarboniite, and then passing all of thc gases through a second mass of carbonaceous material.y

4. 'l he recess which consists in burning carbonaccous niatcrial in the presence of steam, passing the hot gaseous products of reaction through a separate mass of mineral carbonate to generate carhonic acidl therefrom, and then pass ing ull the gaseous froducts through asecolid heated mass of carbonaccousmaterial.

5. The process of manufacturing ygas which consists in decomposing steam by passing it through a bod of hotl carbonaceous material, passing t ic 'hotproductsof' reaction through a separato mass of mineral carbonate, and then passing all of the gases through a mass of carbonnceous niet-cual.

6. The process of manufacturing gas which consists in forcing air and steam through burning carbonaceous fuel, pasaing the products of combustion through a separateinass of mineral carlmnatev and thence through a'sccond mass of carbonaceous miv. tei-iai, and thence through a heated mass of refractory material. 7 The process of manufacturing gas which consists in evolving carbonio acid by passing through a mass of mineral carbonatcs the gases distilled from a heil of incandescent coal, then passing such gases min gied with the carbonio acid throughs second mass of carbonaceous material and enriching the resulting gas with volatile hydrocarbon, v

and then turing the gas with heat.

8. The process of manufacturing gas which consists in commingling all of the gases dis filled from a mass of highly heated coai with carbonio scid resulting from the calcination of a mass of mineral carbonatefand passingv such commingled gases through a mass of hot carbonaceous material, then injecting h ldrocarbon oil and stcani, and then fixing t e re-- sulting gas by passing it through e mass of hot refractory materiai. i

9. The rocess of manufacturing both fuel gas and 1 lumina-ting gas which consists in passing the gases arising from a mass of hot,

coal tlirou h a separate mass of mineral carbonate an( thence through a second mass of coal, and thence through a mass of refractory ma'terial, air being alternately admitted to effect the combustion of a suliicient quantity of coal to heatV the mass beyond the. point of gasoistillation and cut ofi limited period to permit such distillation of the first mentioned coal, the gas produced during the period of air supp y being collected for use as a fuel gas and the gas produced during theperiod when the ain-supply is cut off being carbureted and; collec separately for use as an iiluminatinglfgas.

`10. The process of manufacturinglgas therefrom for a l which consists in distilling gais from coal, in- ]ecting air into such gas t0 consume u. inlnor portion thereof, passing the. gaseous products which consists in evolving gases in n. genera.-

toi', passing the grises through n lixin;r chumber containing ai heated muss of refractory material, und maintaining the temperature of said refractory material by burning n. minor iai-rt of the gases with aiir in said geneniior lli-fore they enter said fixing chamber.

13. 'llio process of manufacturing fuel gais which consists in evolving gases in n. generator, passing the. gases through a. lixing 'chainber containing u. heated uniss of refractory iixuierial, und nuiintuining the temperature of smid refractory material continuously by burning :i iortion ofthe gases with nir in said "eiici'ntor before they ent-cr said 'lixingl chain- 1n testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my mime in the presence of two subscribing r witnesses :it 5L.y Louis, Missouri, this 24th day of July 1908.

BENJAMIN BKAZLLE Witnesse G. A. licNNiNo'roN, EuoAn T. FARMER 

